OBJECTIVE

To investigate prevalence of atrial fibrillation (AF) in Uygur and Han elderly populations in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region (Xinjiang).

METHODS

Epidemiological survey was conducted among the residents selected through stratified random cluster sampling in the southern, northern and eastern Xinjiang.

RESULTS

The overall AF prevalence among Uygur and Han elderly people was 3.56%. The crude prevalence of AF was 2.91% among Uygur elderly people and 4.13% among Han elderly people. The sex specific prevalence of AF were 3.19% and 2.61% among Uygur males and females respectively, and 5.01% and 3.31% among Han males and females respectively. The prevalence of valvular AF among Uygur ethnic group was higher than that in Han ethnic group; the prevalence of non-valvular and isolated AF in Han ethnic group were higher than those in Uygur ethnic group. The compliance of aspirin and β-blocker medication among Han ethnic group was better than that in Uygur ethnic group. The compliance of warfarin medication was poor in both Uygur ethnic group and Han ethnic group. The prevalence of ischemic stroke were 8.82% and 0.98% in Uygur elderly people with or without AF. The prevalence of ischemic stroke were 6.08% and 0.70% in Han elderly people with or without AF.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of AF in elderly people in Xinjiang is similar to the results from other domestic studies, the prevalence of AF in Han elderly people was higher than that in Uygur elderly peoples.